Spring First-Year Road to UM Checklist

Be sure to check back regularly for updates and continue to monitor your UM email for important communications. Go ’Canes!

• Submit your enrollment deposit

  To secure enrollment, you must submit your $500 nonrefundable enrollment deposit by the due date indicated on your admission letter. This payment can be made by credit card or electronic check/e-check.

  Log in to the Applicant Portal to complete the Reply to Offer of Admission form and submit your $500 nonrefundable enrollment deposit.

• Apply for on-campus housing, search for a roommate, and choose a meal plan

  Apply before December 1 through CaneLink. Housing applications received after the December 1 deadline will be added to a waitlist until an available space can be identified.

  Access the On-Campus Housing Portal on your CaneLink Student Homepage. A sample housing agreement, an application tutorial, and the housing rates for the coming year are available on the housing website.

  You will be required to submit a $500 prepayment via credit card as part of the application process. The prepayment will be applied to your University student account.

  Students who apply early receive greater priority for selecting single rooms, making room changes, and receiving earlier room selection appointment times for future academic years.

  Select a Meal Plan

  All first-year residents must choose between the unlimited meal plan, 19-meal plan, or 14-meal plan. Students who do not select a meal plan upon enrollment in housing will automatically be signed up for the unlimited meal plan. In CaneLink, under “UM Housing Portal,” go to the meal plan step and make your selection. You will be able to make changes to your plan in CaneLink up to two days before housing opens. 

  Students living off-campus may choose from any of the residential and commuter meal plans. To sign up, email diningservices@miami.edu and provide your full name, student number, and meal plan choice.

  Find a roommate

  The housing application process includes a section where you can complete a roommate profile by answering a series of questions about your lifestyle preferences, academic and social pursuits, and other roommate-related topics. If you would like to join the roommate search process, you’ll be assigned a username and asked to provide a brief description of yourself. The program then suggests potential roommates based on your responses and mutually confirmed roommates create a roommate group.

  Questions? Email Department of Housing and Residential Life at housing@miami.edu

• If you live in Miami-Dade or Broward counties with your family and plan on commuting to campus, apply for a waiver for the first-year residency requirement

  If you choose to live off-campus, submit a live-on exemption request via the On-Campus Housing Portal.

  All first-year students are required to live in University housing for their first two academic semesters. This policy does not apply to first-year students who:

  — have been out of high school for more than one calendar year
  — live with their parents or a legal guardian in Miami-Dade or Broward County
  — are married and/or have dependent children
  — for disciplinary or administrative reasons, are denied the privilege of living on campus

• Complete financial assistance To Do items

  The University cannot award financial assistance until all required documentation is received and reviewed by the Office of Student Financial Assistance and Employment (OSFAE). If you are interested in receiving any type of financial assistance and have completed the application process:

  1. Check your UM email often for award notifications or requests for more information from OSFAE.
  2. Monitor your Financial Assistance Student Portal for outstanding actions or required documents.
     1. In CaneLink select "Go To Student Center" and then “View Financial Aid.”
     2. Select the 2021+ aid year to reach the Financial Assistance Student Portal.
     3. From the Financial Assistance Student Portal home page, select "Accept Awards" the drop-down menu.
     4. Accept/decline/reduce all or any portion of your awards and loan offers. To reduce a loan award, update the amount in the box and click Accept, then Submit.

     Documents received or requested will be displayed on the home page.

  3. Pleasere terms and conditions for financial assistance at miami.edu/terms.

• Submit outside scholarship award information and/or checks to Office of Student Financial Assistance and Employment

  Outside resources such as outside scholarships and veterans’ benefits must be considered when calculating your eligibility for some need-based aid and, in the case of veterans’ benefits, eligibility for institutional need-based aid.

  Please complete the Outside Scholarship Submission Form to submit award information and/or checks to the Office of Student Financial Assistance and Employment.

• Request a major change through the Applicant Portal

  Submit a Change of Major Request in the applicant portal to have Undergraduate Admission update your major. Submission of the form does not guarantee your major will be changed. We will email you regarding your approval status as soon as possible.

  Please note that if your major is in the Frost School of Music or the School of Architecture and you did not submit standardized test scores, you will not be able to change your major out of your respective school until after you have completed a year of courses at the University of Miami.